


With my Guidance

by Galionne



Category: Godzilla - All Media Types, Godzilla: King of The Monsters (2019)
Genre: Family Bonding, Growing Up, Hatchling Ghidorah, Mentor Rodan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-10-30 04:35:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20808626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galionne/pseuds/Galionne
Summary: There were many things Rodan never expected to happen. Learning that Ghidorah had in fact survived his battle against Godzilla was one. Finding out he had done so by reverting to a hatchling was another. Becoming an impromptu mentor for said hatchling was a third. And yet, all it took was a single night for all three scenarios to become reality.





	1. First Companions

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to my first Godzilla fanfic!  
This is basically an excuse for me to throw a whole lot of headcanon around, as well as write some cute scenes and bring in some kaijus we didn't get to see in KOTM. I'd also like to point out that, although I definitely ship it and might write about it later, this is not a Rodorah fic. The relationship here is purely mentor/protégé.  
With that said, I hope you enjoy this first chapter!

It was a cool, cloudless night over Boston. The city ruins still stood tall, somehow, gutted skyscrapers threatening to topple over at the slightest push. It had been a few weeks since the grand battle between the king of monsters and his three-headed rival had taken place, annihilating the entire city. No human had yet dared to return to the devastated area due to the radioactive fallout. There wasn't a single living being for miles around.

... That was, except for the colossal bird-like creature rummaging through the debris.

The winged titan was letting out low, gentle caws as it pushed aside broken wooden beams, singed cement chunks and shards of glass with its beak.

Rodan didn't know precisely what had drawn him back to these cursed battlegrounds. After everything that had taken place there ; after everything he had been through in just a few days ; it seemed more likely he would simply disappear into another volcano and hibernate for a century or two. And, truth be told, that was his original plan. Once Godzilla had dismissed the assembly of titans, Rodan had flown away and made himself a new nest in Fiji’s Mount Taveuni volcano as Isla de Mara was now a dying wasteland. The inhabitants had watched, in slight anguish and awe, as the Fire Demon built itself a new refuge on their land. Once the work was done Rodan had plunged right into the bubbling pool of magma and let the heat take away the many aches and pains crippling his exhausted body. Ghidorah had left many deep scars on him ; burns from his gravity beam, slashes and scratches from his claws, bite marks... But the wound that kept burning and aching no matter what Rodan did was the stab wound he had received from Mothra's stinger.

Oh, he deserved it. He knew he did.

Part of him was still having a hard time believing he had actually fought with the queen ; that he had attacked her… He had joined Ghidorah willingly, that was a fact. It was his and every other titan’s role to obey the alpha. At the time he thought he would just remain on standby and wait for Godzilla’s inevitable return ; that he’d wait it out and not cause more trouble. But there was something… Something instinctive that made him act out under Ghidorah’s command. Suddenly every order the new king gave was his personal mission to accomplish. It sent his mind into an unmanageable frenzy, his body bubbling with excitement, adrenaline and a desire to strike. It would have been easy to dismiss his loss of control as being born from his fear of Ghidorah, or maybe even the new Alpha’s powerful, dominant aura taking him over. But Rodan knew he couldn’t pin everything on the three-headed monster. It wasn’t that easy. He’d let himself go as well… He’d let himself go when he should have fought back. Had he tried, he might have been able to resist his influence. Instead he let go and allowed his newfound lust to kill to take him over.

Yeah… He deserved to be stabbed. He just hoped the Queen would be able to forgive him.

Rodan felt a sudden twinge in his gut and moved to another pile of rubble.

It wasn't the first time he'd felt something like that- in fact these odd twinges had been occurring for a few days now and were part of what had made him leave his volcano. He had tried to ignore them at first, thinking they might just be stemming from his wounds and general malaise. But they had continued, accompanied by a growing feeling of urgency ; and became so strong he ended up leaving the comfort of his nest to go wherever his gut feeling would take him. This was how, after a few hours, he ended up landing back in Boston. He couldn’t help the dreadful feeling creeping in the back of him mind. Something felt… Wrong about the situation, but he couldn’t stop himself from digging. It was as though he knew he was about to uncover something terrible ; but something that needed to be uncovered nonetheless…

He took a step back and scratched at the scorched debris with his talons, removing another layer of dirt. He dipped his head again and pushed more rubble to the side, unearthing a heavy slab of concrete which haphazardly rested over two crushed vehicles. The twinge in his gut suddenly grew so strong it was almost nauseating ; and the sense of urgency that had been gnawing at his mind rushed back to him, hitting him with full force to the point where he was almost lightheaded.

_Right there._

Rodan found himself trembling with anticipation as he lowered his head, pressing his horns against the cold concrete and pushing with all his strength. The metal scratched and screeched under the moving weight, sending sparks flying everywhere. Rodan groaned and huffed, taking a step back before headbutting the slab one last time, toppling it over. A thick cloud of dust and ashes rose from the ground, masking the area and making the titan cough and retch loudly, shaking his head vigorously. After a few minutes however the cloud finally settled, and suddenly he saw it.

A minuscule, trembling heap of golden scales ; covered in a grimy layer of soil and soot.

"No..."

Hesitantly, the pterosaur brushed the tip of his beak over the scales, waiting for a reaction. Almost immediately the small creature shifted and let out a soft whimper, opening its wings and uncovering its body- as well as all three of its little heads.

"Ghidorah-?!"

Rodan stumbled back with a strangled cry of surprise. For a moment he wondered if maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him ; if maybe he was hallucinating... But no. No matter how much he shook his head or blinked, the minuscule hydra was still there. Clear as day. The pterosaur took a moment to compose himself before leaning closer to inspect it. The three heads, the golden scales, the two tails... There was no doubt about it ; this truly was Ghidorah... Even the scent was the same- albeit not as overpowering. Rodan sat down as he kept staring at it, still in disbelief.

Granted, Ghidorah surviving the assault wasn't a _complete_ impossibility. Most titans were not only incredibly resilient, they also had astonishing regeneration capabilities which usually tied into whichever energy or element gave them their life force. In Godzilla's case it was radioactivity, in Rodan's it was fire and heat. Should they be mortally wounded, being bathed in these elements would bring them enough energy to repair their bodies. There had in fact been a few times before where Rodan had returned from the brink of death by simply diving into an active volcano or lying down in the middle of a forest fire and absorbing the flames. Mothra herself had an even more complex ability the volcanic kaiju still didn't fully understand. All he knew was that it involved her reverting to her larval stage one way or another after 'death' and going through the whole maturation process again. In a way, something not too dissimilar from what he had here...

The question now, though, was what was he supposed to do?

_What was he supposed to do?!_ This was Ghidorah ; Godzilla's lifelong rival and the titan who had attempted to destroy the entire planet- and now he was back. He couldn’t just leave him there! His first thought was to simply call over the king to let him deal with the situation. After all, this was his job ; he could take care of it. But then again...

Rodan looked down at the hatchling. It was chirping and squeaking softly, curling its wings back around itself as it shivered in the cooling air. It was tiny ; barely over 3 feet long without the tails and didn't yet seem able to hold either of its heads off of the ground. Its eyes seemed to remain closed as well. And it looked so weak and fragile... Just a snap of the larger titan's beak and he could crush all of its little bones-

Rodan winced and shook his head as he felt a sudden wave of unease wash over him. The image that had flashed through his mind was… Distressing, to say the least. He wasn’t sure why however- he’d had no qualms about killing smaller creatures (such as humans) before. But this tiny hatchling felt different… Watching it squirm on the ground and struggle to keep warm brought forth a new assortment of emotions the Fire Demon had never experienced before. He knew this was Ghidorah ; _The Destroyer of Worlds_ ; yet he somehow couldn’t bring himself to harm the tiny hydra...

As he pondered about the situation he began unconsciously stepping away from the hatchling, mumbling to himself. But just as he got a few feet away, he suddenly felt a twinge in his gut again. This time however it was also accompanied by a soft sound and as he turned around, he saw the hydra was chirping in his direction and seemed to be looking for him. The winged kaiju blinked a few times, before hesitantly approaching the hatchling.

"Did you just... Call out to me?"

The small hydra didn't answer as it was probably too young to even understand the titans' spoken language, but Rodan had little doubt that's exactly what had happened- and suddenly it all clicked. The twinges, the urgency to fly back here... The little one had been calling out to him through the hivemind titans all shared ; and somehow Rodan had heard it from the other side of the world. And not only that, but it had called him specifically... Rodan, the lonely king on a lonely mountain...

He opened a wing and delicately set it over the small kaiju, blanketing him comfortably against the cool nocturnal breeze. The three heads cooed softly as they blindly nuzzled closer to each other and the sight brought a comforting feeling to the pterosaur as he looked down at them. The hatchling had called out to him specifically... Because he was Ghidorah's only companion. Rodan closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. He still remembered the extra-terrestrial kaiju telling him about his plight- being born on a dying planet with no choice but to flee ; never finding a world that wouldn't attempt to kill or enslave him... Hope to find a new home turned into fear. Fear turned into despair. Despair turned into anger. Anger turned into overflowing, destructive rage...

Destructive rage turned into a vital need to annihilate.

It still surprised Rodan how easily the false king had trusted him with this tale. Maybe it was because he was about to burn down the planet anyway. Maybe it was to get things off his chest. Maybe it was to sway his new servant even further to his side with a sob story. Or maybe he knew they both led lonely existences ; and maybe (just maybe) he trusted Rodan just enough to understand... To be his second in command and first companion in destruction...

It was a tempting thought ; believing someone would put this much trust in him after all these years of solitude. As the last of his species and the lowest step in the titan hierarchy (even more so now), fighting by Ghidorah's side had been an incredibly invigorating experience. It made him feel in control, powerful ; like he did matter at least a little bit on this vast, ever-changing planet.

All this because for just a moment, he wasn't alone in the world anymore...

Because Ghidorah was there.

Rodan sighed deeply as he stood up. He'd made his decision. It was certainly one he was going to regret sooner or later... But for now, at least, it was clear what he had to do.

He looked over to the hatchling and saw it was fast asleep. With as much caution as he could he leaned back on one foot and slowly, delicately closed the talons of his other foot around it before gently lifting it off the ground. He made sure it was safely nestled in before taking off, keeping that leg closer to his body to keep it warm.

It was going to be a long flight home...


	2. Fresh Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rodan gives Ghidorah a bath before having an existential crisis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's the second chapter! I wanted to thank everyone for the kudos and especially for the kind comments. Once again this is the first time I write a fic for this fandom, so seeing you are enjoying this is just about the most motivating thing to me!  
Speaking of which, I hope you enjoy this new chapter!

It took a few hours for Rodan to fly from Boston to the Fijis, although thankfully not much happened in the meantime. He only had to check on the hatchling every now and then as it kept waking up and falling back asleep during the ride ; and ended up waking up for good just a few minutes before they reached Mount Taveuni. As the large pterosaur began his descent, he opted to land next to a small mountain stream which ran just below his volcanic nest- he may have been a Fire Demon ; but a drink of cool water still sounded like the greatest thing in the world right about now. He awkwardly landed on one foot and gently released his talons on the other, placing the hatchling on the ground. The small creature immediately spread its wings and loudly chirped, having decidedly not enjoyed the long ride. Nonetheless, Roden pressed the tip of his beak against the middle head (the one that always seemed to be the most agitated) and it seemed to calm down a little. It moved back to nuzzle between the other two, draping its wings back over itself. Rodan leaned over and took a few gulps of the cool water, before cupping some in his beak and presenting it to the hatchling. It seemed each head already had a decent sense of smell as they stirred a bit, before moving closer and eventually slithered upwards to take a drink. They were still quite grimy- and smelled quite strongly of ashes and soot.

Once each head’s thirst was quenched the winged titan opened his beak and the let the remaining water pour back into the stream. He then scooped up another clean mouthful and moved his head just above the hatchling, before tilting it and opening his beak ever so slightly to let the water trickle down over the small kaiju. As he expected it protested with a rather loud chorus of trills and squeaks- even more so when he began grooming it. Receiving an impromptu cold shower like this probably wasn't the best of feelings, but with how thick the layer of grime was it seemed necessary. Besides, it was probably still better than dropping the poor thing directly into the water. Especially considering it would probably drown...

Rodan leaned down and got to work, starting with the middle head. He carefully pressed and rubbed the top of his beak against the scales to loosen the patches of dirt, before delicately scraping at them and rinsing the grime off into the stream before starting over again. It wasn't an easy process ; especially since the middle head was being particularly capricious and weakly hissing anytime the pterosaur even so much as _touched him_... But Rodan kept going anyway, eventually reprimanding the hissing with a gentle but firm peck.

"I'm just trying to get you cleaned up." he sighed before moving on to the right head.

Almost immediately it began whining and whimpering ; which later turned into outright wailing. It almost sounded like the poor thing was being murdered! After one slightly harder scrape it let out a particularly high-pitched shriek, to which the middle head growled and suddenly shot up in an attempt to bite into Rodan's beak with his barely existent teeth. Of course he wasn't able to sink them in and just slipped off harmlessly, but it was enough to startle the winged kaiju.

"Hey! Stop that!" he yelled, just a little louder than he would have wanted.

The right head whimpered and curled up on itself as the middle one lay protectively on top of it, snarling at Rodan.

"Really? That's what you're going to do now?"

So small yet already so ill-tempered...

Rodan huffed and figured he could leave the two alone for now as they were clean enough- unfortunately he couldn't say the same for the last head. He couldn't just leave it like that ; should the grime start to dry and get caked over the scales, it could pop them off and potentially cause infections. He had no choice. With a sigh he carefully stepped around the hatchling and to its left side then, as slowly and non-threateningly as he could, he dipped his head until the tip of his beak was ever so slightly pressed against the left head's side. To the pterosaur's surprise, it only shifted a little and let out a small, soft cooing sound. Encouraged by the lack of whining, he began carefully grooming the little one. The middle head was still hissing at him although it seemed a little less aggressive this time around- maybe because he was, in fact, finally starting to understand Rodan wasn't trying to drown and murder them but just to give them a bath...

When Rodan finally finished the grooming session the hissing had all but stopped. He leaned in and gently nudged the middle one.

"See? Wasn't so bad, was it?

It chirped back at him rather loudly, but the aggressivity was gone. Thank goodness the left head had been so diligent with the grooming… He gave it a gentle, tender nuzzle as a thank you and smiled as it cooed affectionately- until he heard an odd growl quickly followed by all three heads whining and whimpering. Oh, right… They probably hadn’t had anything to eat for days. Poor things must be starving… Without waiting he quickly picked up the hatchling and flew up to ; then landed on the grassy plain above. The top of Mount Taveuni formed a large plateau, in the middle of which was a thick layer of volcanic crust the fire kaiju had dug through to get to the magma. There were a few trees surrounding said plateau ; some rocks and bushes... It wasn't much, but hopefully for now it would be enough for the little hydra.

The pterosaur hobbled over to a particularly large pile of rocks and plunged his beak inside, rummaging a bit before pulling out... A fish.

Ah yes... If there was one good thing that had emerged from his forced move from Isla de Mara to the Fijis, it was the local humans' odd interest in him and their many offerings. Every day and ever since he had arrived, they had been leaving food and trinkets for him at the bottom of the mountain: shiny objects of all kinds, large fish- even the occasional dead bovine. It was quite useful for when Rodan didn't want to hunt which, with his many injuries, was admittedly quite often. For convenience's sake he'd taken all of the foods he liked (the humans sometimes left food that was wrapped in an odd, sometimes transparent, sometimes colorful membrane he just didn't digest very well) and piled them up so they could be kept nearby. He turned backed to the hatchling and approached him with the fish. Hopefully the little one was already old enough to eat solid meals and he wouldn't have to pre-chew it for him... He dropped the fish before the three heads, waiting for their reaction expectantly.

As soon as it hit the ground, they were on it like piranhas.

Their teeth tore right through the thin layer of scales and hungrily dug into the salty flesh beneath it. Rodan was... Quite surprised, to say the least. The middle head's bite on his beak had felt so weak earlier... Granted fish flesh was obviously a lot more tender than his _volcanic-rock-reinforced-keratin-bill_, but still... They were eating with such unrestrained ferocity… Either they really were starving ; or the smell of blood was bringing up their predatory instincts despite their young age… They only slowed down after a few minutes, taking fewer and smaller bites, taking more time to chew. Then after a little while longer they weren’t tearing off pieces anymore ; just gnawing with little enthusiasm- not that there was much left on the bones. They were only chewing as a reflex because they could still taste flesh, but Rodan figured their hunger was satiated. He saw the right head yawn and leaned in.

"Come here..."

He gently picked up the hatchling with his beak and pulled him close to his side, before carefully setting his wing over him as a blanket. None of the heads protested. They just nuzzled close together and were asleep within minutes. Rodan let out a sigh as he was finally able to enjoy the peace and quietness of his mountain kingdom...

Then the dread hit him.

It was like a cold shower, chiling his volcanic blood as his heart skipped what felt like a thousand beats.

The hatchling had been taking up all of his attention up until this point ; he had only been focusing on caring for the little one, bathing him, feeding him, getting him comfortable... But now that that was out of the way, all the worries he had been pushing away came flooding back into his already exhausted mind.

First and foremost ; there was the simple yet overwhelming fact Ghidorah was alive, healthy- and under his care.

For now he was manageable. He was just a cute little dragon ; chirping and cooing and acting just like any other newborn. But of course it wasn't going to last... If he had been able to remember and call out to him, then it meant his memories were still there and intact. And if his regeneration process was in any way more similar to Mothra's, then by the time he reached adolescence he would have remembered everything from his previous life... Or lives, considering the situation. He would remember why he came to Earth ; his fights with Godzilla, his short-lived success and his burning defeat... And, considering his temperament, would want to take revenge on the king.

Which brought up another one of the pterosaur's worries: how was Godzilla going to react?

Well... Quite badly ; that Rodan could already tell. But just _how_ badly?

There were... Oh so many things to make him furious in this scenario. First of course, the fact that he had failed in taking out his rival once and for all ; that he might have to fight him again. Then, there was the fact someone had found Ghidorah still alive and not alerted him immediately. The fact that this same someone had taken the hatchling away to essentially hide and raise it in secret. And finally, that this particular someone was none other than Rodan ; who was already on thin ice -so thin in fact even breathing the wrong way might shatter it- ever since his previous 'act of treason'...

Oh,_ god_.

Godzilla was going to kill him once he found out, wasn’t he? If he didn’t already know… It was quite possible he had already sensed Ghidorah’s return, and was just taking his time to come find him. Or maybe he was waiting to see if Rodan would bring the hatchling over by himself…

The winged kaiju sighed and put his head down on the ground.

Of course he wasn’t going to hand him over- not without a fight. And of course it wasn’t going to be easy raising him. He had never raised hatchlings of his own species before ; let alone one from an extraterrestrial three-headed superpredator…

But he knew this. He knew it beforehand.

He knew Ghidorah was going to be a handful ; that he’d want to kill and take his revenge and he knew he’d have to deal with that as the hydra grew up one way or another ; and he knew Godzilla would be furious and that he’d have to confront him at some point and it would probably end in a fight ; if not death.

He knew all of this beforehand. And yet he still went through with taking the hatchling back home... 

He looked down a the three little heads as they slept ; breathing quietly and letting out the eventual soft trill. They were still innocent, still gentle souls bearing no sin…

Maybe if he taught them right… Maybe if he cared for them and showed them another way… Maybe if Godzilla gave them a chance ; both to him and to Ghidorah ; maybe he could do  _ something _ to make the hydra change his ways…

This was… A unique chance to start over on better grounds. For everyone.

He closed his eyes and turned his head, resting it close to the hatchling. He smiled as he felt the left head nuzzle against his beak and relaxed.

Yes… He could do it.

He could make Ghidorah change.

He could make him better.

He knew he could…

He just hoped the king would trust him as much as he trusted himself.


End file.
